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I’d love to show you our last stop on our Christmas Shoe Box trip. If you remember, our first gift delivery was to an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico. Our last stop was a church in a very poor area in Ensenada. The children and their families were wonderful and so welcoming!

In this town in Ensenada, the poorer families live high on the hills, while the “wealthier” families live below near the ocean. They all paint their homes the most lovely colors… blues, greens, all shades of pink, and bright yellow. When they build their own homes, a rogue family member must climb the power pole and attach the power line while it’s live. It’s so dangerous and many die, but they have no other means for power.

We started the Christmas party right away with a pinata. My family and I helped with the preschoolers, but the kids at the party ranged in age from three to teen.

My son, Goofy Foot, finally got a turn. He ripped into the pinata right away. Candy started to fly and kids started to run! Total chaos. Awesome!

We helped the children to different “centers”, like face painting, cookie decorating, and board games. The kids were amazing! Here we were chowing down on pinata candy before our next activity.

I couldn’t get over this little one’s eyes. What a sweetie!

We learned that this was the first time the children had ever decorated Christmas cookies. They were in awe. Goofy Foot showed them the ropes!

My daughter (left) had never decorated cookies either. She froze in this position for a good 90 seconds apparently enjoying her sugar high.

I can’t wait to show you part two tomorrow when all the children got to open their gifts. There was so much JOY!

SO glad you captured those eyes! They are amazing! All of the children are beautiful! It's so fun that you gave them the opportunity of cookie decorating! SImple, yet so fun and yummy!! I bet this trip make your heart overflow with such joy!!!

That was amazing, Stacy! I couldn't stop staring at those beautiful children. I loved the pictures showing the different activities you did with these sweetie pies. We take so much for granted here. :(

What a terrific experience for your family. You are showing them how to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Thank you for praying for us during our process - you know how much it helps! I hope to have new numbers to post this week.Love,Meghan

What a great thing for your family to do, and what great life lessons it is teaching your kids! You can see hope and excitment in the eyes of those children, and what a great idea it was to decorate cookies!!!

OH MY!!! I have to tell you....this brings back so many memories for me. I'm familiar with Tijuana/Ensenada. I grew up in Mexicali...you know where that is? My husband and I led some mission trips to Mexicali a few years ago to an orphanage there. I love missions and doing this exact same thing. I'll share about this on my blog sometime. I also have photos of an awesome Christmas party and other projects. What a blessing!!! I love this ministry and hope to get back into it soon!

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About us

Big Kahuna and I have known each other since we were kids and have been married for almost 15 years. We are passionate about our family, travel and serving God. We love helping people and bringing them hope. We laugh ourselves to tears watching classic episodes of Saturday Night Live and The Office. Summer is our favorite season, and we live for warm evenings playing with the kids on the beach.

Big Surf is 14 years old. He's a voracious reader, focused, and spends hours building things. He is our resident techie and is also learning to play the violin. He loves to spend his free time playing baseball, flag football, or out on the trails by the house building his clubhouse.

Goofy Foot is ten years old. He devours his free reading books like there is no tomorrow. He is also the family comedian. If you see him, ask him to tell you a joke! He is tender-hearted, social and compliant. When he is not outside riding his bike, you'll find him drawing or writing a funny book.

Beach Bunny is three years old. She is our sunshine! She joined our family through the unbelievable gift of adoption. Beach Bunny loves to snuggle with us and carefully takes care of her baby dolls. She is super silly and must say hi to everyone! One word that describes her is "joy".

I Corinthians 13:4-13

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.